News reporter Jiggy Manicad, who is no stranger to the headlines, is all the buzz these days. He was recently named one of the Ten Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) in 2012, at awarding rites led by President Benigno Aquino III himself at Malacañang.

He hosts several programs on GMA 7, including the award-winning investigative documentary program “Reporter’s Notebook” and “24 Oras Weekend.” Though the news is always a pressing matter, Jiggy is not all-work-and-no-play. He has a family, a pet fish and weekly dates with his wife.

In his own words

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“The most interesting place my work has taken me to is an Italian restaurant right beside St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican that serves tapsilog, afridata and adobo! However, since the tapsilog was the bestseller, I wasn’t able to taste it the whole week I was there. But the afritada—ironically in a place known for pasta and pizza—lacked tomato sauce. So, it was like nilagang patatas na may manok.

“The three most notable events I covered in 2012 were the capture of Lolong, the world’s biggest crocodile; the destruction caused by Typhoon Pablo in New Bataan, Compostela Valley, where we saw a whole community buried in rock and soil; and of course, the canonization of St. Pedro Calungsod, where I was given the chance to renew and strengthen my relationship with God, and feel the “miracles” of St. Pedro no matter how big or small they are.

“The most dangerous location I went to for an assignment was Lebanon, during the war a few years back. My crew and I were nearly kidnapped by Hezbollah fighters in Beirut who mistook us for spies, and we were lucky enough to cancel a shoot for a story. Had we pushed for that story, we could have been caught in an Israeli airstrike.

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“The biggest blessing in my life is my wife Marnie and my kids Sam and Sabina. They are my constant sources of inspiration. In the words of Jerry Maguire, ‘they complete me.’

“The secret to balancing career and family is to really allocate time for each. If you do advanced writing or shoots, just do it. No matter how busy one is, there should always be time for the family.

“When on the field, I wear clothes that I am comfortable and confident in. I have Columbia shirts, shoes and pants, especially for out-of-town coverages. On normal days, I wear Levi’s, especially dark-color pants; they’re not only tough but very versatile as well.

When on-cam, products I use include MAC Studio Tech NC43 Compact cream foundation, as recommended by our makeup artists; and Gatsby and Bench Fix It hair waxes, which are gentle on the scalp.

Its products are so good, tanggal talaga ang makeup. I’m not the vanidoso type, but since it’s a requirement for us to use makeup on-cam, I used to have pimples especially on the jaw-neck area whenever I used those readily available in drugstores. Now, okay na siya.

The bath and body products my family and I have been using for years are Cetaphil facial cleanser, Johnson’s Baby Milk Bath for Sam and Sabina, and Greencross soap, Clear shampoo and Old Spice deo for me.

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